Torres v. Chater
Case Date: 09/09/1997
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 97-1026
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[NOT FOR PUBLICATION] UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT ____________________ No. 97-1026 LUIS TORRES, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SHIRLEY S. CHATER, COMMISSIONER, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, Defendant, Appellee. ____________________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND [Hon. Robert W. Lovegreen, U.S. Magistrate Judge] _____________________ ____________________ Before Torruella, Chief Judge, ___________ Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges. ______________ ____________________ Morris Greenberg on brief for appellant. ________________ Sheldon Whitehouse, United States Attorney, Michael P. Iannotti, ___________________ ___________________ Assistant United States Attorney, and Wayne G. Lewis, Assistant ________________ Regional Counsel, Social Security Administration, on brief for appellee. ____________________ August 20, 1997 ____________________ Per Curiam. We have reviewed the parties' briefs and __________ the record on appeal. Dr. Gibson's examination found that claimant had a normal range of motion in his knees, notwithstanding the indication of early osteoarthritis revealed by the x-ray. Claimant's normal range of motion rebuts his claim that he met Listing 9.09(A) of appendix 1. We note that the magistrate-judge concluded that the claimant's failure to oppose the Commissioner's motion to affirm the judgment "alone" sufficed as reason to grant that motion. This is error, as the magistrate still must determine that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). Nonetheless, ___ the error was harmless as the magistrate thereafter recounted and analyzed the evidence and correctly concluded that there was substantial evidence to support the decision of the administrative law judge. Affirmed. _________ |